Machine for making wire staples



I No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' A. W. PARMELEE.

v MAGHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES; N0.- s62,5s0. Patented May 10, 1887 XXX-[11555 E 5; I i'FLX/ EIT EEIY';

(No Model.) 1 I 2 SheetsSheet 2.

- A. W. PARMELEE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES. No. 362,530. Patented May 10, 1887.

\xfitnesses; ITu/E'ntcr;

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' ARTHUR W. PARMELEE, OF W'ORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WIRE STAPLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 362,530, dated May 10. 1887.

Application filed January 8, 1887. Serial No. 223,131. (No model.)

T 0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR W. FARME- LEE, of Worcester, in the county of \Voreester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Staples and the Method of Making the Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent a side,edge, and bottom view, respectively,of my improved wire staple. Fig. 4 is a side view of so much of a machine for making wire staples as is necessary to illustrate the first stage in the method of making said staples. Fig. 5 is a top view thereof, showing the second stage in their construction. Figs. 6 and 7 represent the next and final stages in said construction, Fig. 6 being a partial plan View of the parts shown in the previous figures, and Fig. 7 a cross or transverse vertical section taken on line a a, Fig. 4, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow a in said figure, said Fig. 7 showing the staple in its completed state ready to drop out of the machine. Fig. 8 is a plan view of one of the dies employed in pointing my improved staples. Fig. 9 is a perspective view thereof; and Fig. 10 represents two modifications of a portion of said die, hereinafter more fully described.

My invention relates to wire staples, and more particularly to the method of forming the points thereof in their manufacture, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order that the nature and advantages of my improvements may be well understood, I will first, in a general way, explain the state of the art relating thereto prior to my invention, after which said improvements and the method of carrying out the same in practice will be described in detail.

Staples were originally made by blaeksmiths, who cut the wire to suitable length and pointed one end by hammering it on an anvil; then, re-

versing it, pointed the other end in the same manner, after which said pointed wire was bent by means of a suitable bench device or contrivance into the desired shape to produce the staple. This method, as is well known,

has been to form the points by shearing the v wire at an oblique angle to produce the wellknown blind staples, bed spring staples, barbed wire fence staples, double pointed tacks, and staples for other similar purposes. By the latter method a very cheap staple is produced; but it does not fulfill the requirements of a good staple on account of its rough ness and its natural tendency to turn out of a straight central line in driving the sameinto position. Other staples are made by casting the metal in molds to produce the desired shape; while still others are made from wire and the points thereof formed by rolling down the metal into the required shape. An example of the latter method is illustrated and described in the United States Patent No. 124,107, granted to John Adt under date of February 27, 1872, forimprovement in machines for making staples.

As compared with the old methods, John Adt made a great improvement in the manufacture of staples. He devised a machine for rolling the points down to a long tapering point, imitating the staple formerly pointed by hand. In making the staples he first cuts the Wire or rod to suitable length, then bends it into the form of the staple, and then, by means of heavy rolls, compresses or rolls the points down, as desired, thereby elongating the stock and drawing it out to much longer than its original length. This process, as will be obviously seen, is necessaril y slow and takes great power, and consequently very heavy and expensive machinery.

The staple produced has long drawn or rolled points, and the process of rolling making said points hard and brittle, it is necessary to anneal the same by a separate operation after the staple is made. The points, being long and tapering, as aforesaid, rest in tapering sockets when driven into position, and therefore, when the staple is started at all, the tapering points, becoming loose in said sockets for the entire length thereof, are easily drawn out.

' Now, my improved method or process of ICO making staples is entirely and in all respects different from that of John Adt, being not only much cheaper, but far more rapid, and pro ducing staples infinitely superior to those made by his method.

By my improved method the wire or rod is cut apart and one end of two separate staples pointed at one and the same operation by means of a pair of dies made of the proper shape to perform said operation when moved one against the other with the wire or red between the same, as hereinafter described. Upon being thus cutapart and pointed, the double-pointed piece in advance isat once bent into the form of a staple by means of a movable bending pin or post, which moves forward between two stationary posts and arrives'in position to perform said bending operation immediately upon the completion of the aforesaid combined cutting-off and pointing operation, thus completing the staple, which drops down into a suitable receptacle. By this method it is obvious that the wire is not drawn or rolled at all, and the bending thereof is performed subsequent instead of before the point ing operation. Being clipped or cut and compressed by dies to form the points, instead of rolled, and elongating the stock, the annealing operation becomes unnccessary,the quality or degree of temperature of the stock not being affected by my improved method.

Various modes of construction may be ad opt ed in practice in the carrying out of said improved method, and I therefore do not limit myself to the special construction shown in the drawings, the same simply serving as an illustration of one way of effecting the desired re sult. r

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to fully understand the same, I will now proceed to describe it more in detail with reference to the aforesaid drawings.

The parts marked 1) I) represent ordinary grooved feed-rolls for feeding the wire or rod 0 forward between the dies (Z d and in front of the stationary hearings or posts 0 c, as indicated in Fig. 4. Under said wire or red c,bctween the stationary posts 0 e, is arranged to turn vertically a large wheel, f, having one or more spokes or studs, 9, projecting out radially therefrom, as is best shown in Fig. 7. For the purpose of convenience in illustrating other parts, only a portion of said wheel f is shown, it being deemed unnecessary to show the whole of it to make clear the nature of my improvements.

In practice the bottom die, d, is preferably made stationary, being fastened rigidly in po sition, and the die (I is arranged to move in a straight line longitudinally toward and from Said bottom die to cut apart the wire or rod 0 and point the staples,as hereinafter explained. Said movable die (1, the feed-rolls b b, and wheel f may be operated to perform their respective offices by connection with any suitable and convenient driving mechanism,which it is considered unnecessary to illustrate in the drawings, no special claim being made to the same; and, if preferred, they may be constructed and arranged to operate in other positions than those shown in the drawings and previously described. Any other suitable and convenient method may also be adopted in lieu of feed-rolls b I) for feeding the wire forward; and, if desired, the bending operation may be performed by making the spoke g stationary and the posts 0 c the movable parts, instead of as hercinbefore described.

The operation of making a wire Staple by my improved method is as follows: The end of the uncut strand of wire is first pointed, as slibwn at h in Figs. 4 and 5, by moving said end forward between the dies by hand, or by turning the feed-rolls t b and then moving the die d against the stationary die d, the latter operation causing the end of the wire to be cut off as well as to be pointed,as aforcsaid,in the manner hereinafter more fully explained.

Assuming that the machine was turned by hand in performing the foregoing operation, by now applying the power (by means of a shipper, as usual) and starting up said machine, the feed-rolls I) 2') first feed the wire forward the distance required to form one staple, as shown in Fig. 4, and then, immediately upon the completion of said feeding-in operatiomthe die cl descends upon the wire over the die d, and moves back again by quick motions and in rapid succession, thereby clipping the wire and at the same time compressing it to form the two short stubby ends h It, pointing toward each other, as shown in Fig. 5, the end h' forming the rear pointed end of the stapleblank previously pointed at its forward end, as before described, and the end It thcforward end of the next succeeding blank.

The aforesaid operation not only points the two ends, but also cuts the finished blank i apart from the main wire, as indicated by the cross-lincj. The superfluous stock, in the form of webs or fins Zr, is also by the same opera tion cut from the wire at each side of the points, asindicatcd by thelines k, and dropped down to either side in four parts. The wire is cut apart crosswise by means of the two outting-edges Z Z, one upon each die, arranged at right angles to the wire, and the inclined cuts, which form the sides of the points, by the eight cutting-edges m, four upon each die, arranged at an oblique angle to the wire, corresponding to the angles desired to be cut thereon.

The depressed surfaces at between the oblique cutters at of the dies d d serve as molds to compress the metal into the desired shape as said cutters are performing their office and the surfaces are brought in contact with said metal.

In the drawingsI haveshown the points as being made with four sides by means of dies, such as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, having two-sided depressions n. I do not, however, limit myself thereto, as any other shaped points may be produced by the use of dies having depressions or molds corresponding to the shapes desired to be imparted to said points-as, for instance, if a round point is desired, a concavity in the form of a half-circle, such as shown in theleft-hand section in Fig. 10, may be used, or ahexagon shapeimparted by the three-sided depression shown in the right-hand section thereof, and still other polygon shapes by the use of any other number of sides in said depressions.

When the machine is in operation, the wheel f is in constant motion, and its rotation is so timed that one of its spokes g arrives against the side of the wire, as shown in Fig. 5, as the die 61 moves away from said wire after the pointing operation hereinbefore described. Said spoke g, continuing to move forward toward the wire between and past the stationary posts 6 e, first bends the severed double pointed blank in the direction shown by the arrows 0 0 in Fig. 5, thence between said posts 6 e,which causes said blank to assume the form of a staple, as shown in Fig. 6, and finally, being drawn by the spoke past said posts, is carried along thereby untilit drops from the wheel a completed staple, 0, into a suitable receptacle placed underneath'to receive it. Each succeeding staple is pointed and bent in rapid succession in the same manner, the feed-rolls b I) being so timed in relation to the other operating parts as to feed the wire .forward for each succeeding staple directly following the drawing forward of the preceding blank in the bending operation. It is therefore obvious that said staples may be made very rapidly. In practice I find that a machine made in accordance with my improrenients is capable of producing over three hundred finished staples per minute, thus enabling me to place the same upon the market at a very low price. Being made with short stubby points central with the main body of the wire, and the arms of the same diameter for nearly their whole length, they embrace the well-known superior qualities over the usual staples having long tapering points extending nearly to the bending point that a wire nail possesses over an ordinary cut nailviz., greater strength, greater tenacity and holding power when driven into wood or similar material, and greater ease and precision in driving the same into position. Another important feature is the removal of any tendency of splitting the wood or other substance in driving the same therein, which, as is well known, is a serious objection to the use of staples having long tapering points.

Referring again to the John Adt patent, I will state that I have been familiar with both his staple and the machine for producing the same from the date of said patent, and the full are put to.

knowledge of wherein his staple and the method of making the same fell short of what they should be has led me to devise and put into practical operation my present invention. The advantages derived therefrom will at once be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it appertains without further explana tion thereof.

A review of the differences between my improved method and that of John Adt may be briefly summed up as follows: By the said John Adt method the wire is first cut the proper length to form the staple, then bent, and finally the points formed by rolling or drawing out the arms of the blank by means of rolls having suitable dies fastened therein. Said rolling or elongation of the wire causes the same to become brittle, as will be evident, and therefore necessitates subsequent annealing to produce good strong staples. By my method, at each stroke of a movable die, the wire is cut apart, two ends pointed, and the fins or surplus stock cutoff clean, all at one operation. The blank, after having been thus cut 06 and pointed, is then bent into the form of the staple, which completes the same ready for use. As the wire is clipped or cut apart, instead of rolled, the aforesaid annealing operation is unnecessary to produce points of the desired strength for all purposes that they It will therefore be seen that by the John Adt method the points are made subsequent to the bending operation and by rolling down or elongation of the metal, whereas by my method said operations are not only reversed, but the points made in an entirely different and more expeditious manner, as previously described.

Having described my invention, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A machine for pointing and bending wire staples, comprising means for feeding the wire or red forward intermittently the distance required to form each staple, a pair of dies whose faces are made substantially as described and working one against the other for cutting apart each blank from the main wire, said cutting operation at the same time pointing the rear or inner end-of said blank and the forward end of the mainstrip forming the forward end of the next succeeding blank, and means for bending the blank after having been pointed, substantially as shown and specified.

ARTHUR \V. PARMELEE.

WVitnesses:

ALBERT A. BARKER, WALTER B. Nounsn. 

